Daniel maclise - the Waterloo cartoon - Annette Wickham

Depicting the famous meeting of Wellington and Blcher directly after their joint victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815, Daniel Maclises monumental drawing, which took over a year to create and stands at 3 metres high and 13 metres in length, caused a sensation when it was first shown at the House of Lords in 1859. Even though it was only a study for the final wall painting (which can still be seen in the Royal Gallery at Westminster), the cartoon was declared a masterpiece on its unveiling, yet remained largely hidden for most of the twentieth century. Now, to commemorate the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo, the work is being shown for the first time in over 40 years. In this concise but comprehensive volume Annette Wickham looks in detail at the story of the cartoons creation and the reasons it has been hidden for so long, while military expert Mark Murray-Flutter offers an engaging analysis of the arms, equipment and characters portrayed in each scene. Featuring Maclises masterpiece illustrated in its entirety in a full-colour fold-out, the book will fascinate art and military enthusiasts alike.